Steven Friel

Steven has extensive experience in handling complex disputes, often with an international dimension.  He has represented clients across a broad range of commercial, industrial and governmental sectors, and has particular experience in finance, insurance and disputes involving complex technology.  Steven has acted for and against states in investment treaty disputes, and for bondholders and shareholders in disputes arising out of the restructuring of a number of failed Eurozone banks.

Steven’s expertise was recognised by every annual edition of the Legal 500 published in the eight years up to when he left private practice. For commercial litigation work, he was praised as having “the sort of knowledge that one only gets with years of accumulated experience in heavy or complex litigation” and a “strong commercial grip on the relevant legal provisions and financial aspects of cases.” For his work in international arbitration, the Legal 500 ranked Steven as “outstanding,” and he was noted as an “experienced practitioner” of banking litigation.

A solicitor-advocate, admitted in England & Wales and in Ireland, Steven has appeared before a number of English civil and criminal courts, including the High Court and Court of Appeal, and international tribunals in The Hague and elsewhere in Europe and North America. Steven is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, an accredited mediator, and is on the CEDR Ireland Panel of Arbitrators.

Before joining Woodsford, Steven was a partner in the London office of international law firm Brown Rudnick. Prior to joining Brown Rudnick, Steven was a partner in the London office of DAC Beachcroft, and practiced from the London and New York offices of Debevoise & Plimpton. Steven is a graduate of Cambridge University, and graduated top of his class with a Master of Laws degree in International Dispute Resolution from the University of London.